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Sentence Grammar |
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Pronouns |
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Personal pronouns The following words are examples of personal pronouns: The part of the sentence that names the person, place, or thing the sentence is about. Subjects are usually nouns or pronouns. The word firefighters is the subject of the following sentence: The simple subject is the subject noun alone: firefighters. The complete subject is the subject noun and its modifiers: seven firefighters. A predicate nominative is a word, phrase, or clause that follows a linking verb and identifies or renames the subject. In the following sentence, physicist is a predicate nominative. In the following sentence, the noun bus is the object of the verb took, and the noun Chicago is the object of the preposition to: A personal pronoun refers to a specific individual or individuals.
you, he, she, it, they
change forms according to the way they are used within a sentence. They have separate forms to show that they are subjectsSeven firefighters were injured in the apartment fire.
Professor Stanley is a physicist.
, or objectsAn object is a noun or pronoun that “receives” the action stated by a transitive verb or verbal, or that is linked to another word by a preceding preposition. The types of objects include direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions.
I took a bus to Chicago.
, and to show possession.
These pronoun forms are called cases Cases are the forms that pronouns assume to indicate whether they are used as subjects or objects, or to indicate possession.
When you use a pronoun in a comparison following than or as, you will either be comparing subjects or objects. Consider the following examples:
COMPARING SUBJECTS
Jim is taller than Stan.
COMPARING OBJECTS
The exam troubled Carla more than Terry.
Use the subjective case when you are comparing subjects. Use the objective case when you are comparing objects. Consider the following examples:
COMPARING SUBJECTS
He is taller than Stan.
Jim is taller than he.
COMPARING OBJECTS
The exam troubled her more than Terry.
The exam troubled Carla more than her.
For help in determining what pronoun to use after than or as, decide what words are “understood” to be part of the sentence although they have been omitted. Consider the following example with the “understood” words in parentheses:
COMPARING SUBJECTS
Jim is taller than he (is).
COMPARING OBJECTS
The exam troubled Carla more than (it troubled) her.
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In which sentence are pronoun cases used correctly? |
| No. In this sentence, me is not in the subjective case. Think of the sentence as “Serena is not taking as many courses as I (am taking).” |
| Yes. In this sentence, I is in the subjective case, as it should be. |
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